Need to gain weight. Help?

[ivankiss]

Been going through a rather intense purification period for the past three years or so. Kinda been living the sage lifestyle. 

Lost quite some weight, as I've been fasting a lot. Ate once-twice a day. Some days did not eat at all. My diet was nothing fancy. Mostly rice/pasta, veggies, some meat/fish and fruits. 

My body got used to receiving a lot less and it has adjusted. But I feel that it wasn't getting all that it needed. 

My hight is 183cm and I weigh around 72kg. I can feel that's not my ideal body mass. I feel like I'm floating around a bit too much. I lack balance. Not enough down force to ground me properly. My posture is also affected.

Ideally; I'd like to be around 83 - 85kg. And that's quite some weight to gain, especially if I wanna do it in a healthy way. 

In my teens, I was even skinnier. Apparently I have a very fast metabolism. Gaining weight was always kinda difficult. Back then tho; I started working out hard and regularly and I was also put on a "bulking diet" by the owner of the gym. I was stuffing myself with a ridiculous amount of food. Tons of eggs, chicken, tuna, bread, pasta, curd, protein shakes... real heavy stuff. However, it worked. In a bit over three months I went from 67kg to 78kg. Gained some fat too, of course, but also lots of muscle.

A lot has changed since then tho. I am not sure about going through the same process now. It just seems like too much food.

Is there any other way? A trick or something? Can I gain weight without eating like a madman?

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Do resistance training, increase meal frequency, add in liquid calories which are easier to intake. A shake with lets say a carb source like fruit, a fat source like avacado/peanut butter/ and a protein source like a powder or egg white, ect.

Resistance train 3x a week full body, eat a real food meal around an hour or so afterwards, and the weight gain hack here being consume the liquid calories after the solid meal.

[Dumuzzi]

Aren't you a fellow Hungarian? Just eating regular Hungarian food should do it.

Worked for me 

For those that aren't familiar with Hungarian cuisine (everyone), we think, that pasta with dollops of curd cheese, sour cream, fried bacon AND a general helping of icing sugar on top is a completely acceptable lunchtime dish. Because we think that this is a light dish (must have like 2000 calories), we will usually eat a big bowl of goulash soup with bread just before this beauty. 

I don't know how anyone manages to stay thin in this country...

[Justine]

Hello. Try including healthy fats into your diet. avocado, dates, figs, macadamia nuts, are top healthiest fatty foods that I know as of yet and contain great nutrional value. you can add avocado to smoothies everyday if you wish and figs can be eaten dry or fresh as a snack through the day. And they are so yummy.

Look into to figs and how they were used for people that lost a significant amount of weight and hospitalized.

[Michael569]

22 hours ago, ivankiss said:

My hight is 183cm and I weigh around 72kg. I can feel that's not my ideal body mass. I feel like I'm floating around a bit too much. I lack balance. Not enough down force to ground me properly. My posture is also affected.

I think you need to start by working with your own weight to get more comfortable in your skin and for your body to get accustomed to moving itself around in ways it hasn't before. In gyms you see guys who can bench 180 kilos yet they can hardly do 5 pullups. To me that's a weak man who has just covered himself in some fake and useless muscle. 

You may consider doing some calisthenics, sprinting, ladder drills, handstands. obstacle runs, trx, gymnastic rings and all sorts of plyometric exercises that involve a lot of jumping..etc. You may also try something called primal movement, which is a mind-body coordination practice. These will help you achieve a functional strength, you joints and muscles will learn to work like an orchestra rather than bunch of isolated parts which is what bodybuilding does to you. At the same time you gain some muscle that will be 100% efficient and usable. Once you feel comfortable enough, add some kettlebells and some weights if you fancy. 

Regarding food, you don't have to eat like madman but you have to be in slight caloric surplus to gain weight. Gaining weight means taking the food, breaking it down into smallest units of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids and then adding them to your body weight either as fatty tissue or lean muscle tissue, this will entirely depend on the lifestyle, amount of stress you are in, your environment, your activity level and the balance of individual macro nutrients. Your body will only start doing that once your other basic metabolic needs are covered. Think 1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight as protein will be your main driver of adding lean body mass (not fat). And than make sure your vitamin in mineral intake is optimal as they often serve as co-factors in various metabolic processes and energy production,. 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Michael569

[rNOW]

Dry fruits- cashews, figs, dates, raisins and walnuts. 

And ghee- pure cow ghee (clarified butter). Use this for cooking instead of oil. If you have a sweet tooth, add jaggery to it and it becomes a Nutella-type consistency - you can use it as a spread on breads and stuff. 

Both of the above have a lot of calories, and tend to increase HDL Cholesterol and lower the LDL one. Ghee is also very good for joint pains. Replace your oil with ghee and cook in it like you do with oil. It's more expensive, but worth it. Just make sure it is pure and unadulterated. 

[ivankiss]

Thanks everyone. Great set of advices. Appreciate it.

I am currently in a process of moving across the globe, so I figure I'll start implementing things as soon as I settle. I'm excited to create new, healthy habits and find out what suits my body the best. 

Might as well update ya about my progress here, later. 

Bless you.

[Aeris]

Bread pasta eggs meat cheese + staying balanced ofc

Eating 5 Times a day

 

[DrewNows]

High energy foods, greens, especially green smoothies, along with your preference of physical activity, this would bode well for incremental improvement over time. morning routines can be quite effective 

personally I think of the physical activity as energy work and do mostly body weight stuff, creative workout routines, not too intense, short but focused, sometimes daily 

[DrewNows]

On 11/21/2019 at 11:25 AM, ivankiss said:

Is there any other way? A trick or something? Can I gain weight without eating like a madman

of course you can, the malabsorption, nutrient deficient, will eat like madmen and never gain much because the poor utilization, the high metabolism is just a result of the way specific body types handle elimination. Focus on healthy bowel movements, fiber, and not too much meat or protein outside of greens. Once I did this, I could gain back muscle so fast and with only eating maybe a third of what I initially ate to try to gain weight/muscle  

all the extra food in your gut will only slow you down and hinder your energy levels, lead to more injuries and inflammation 

Edited November 27, 2019 by DrewNows